There haven't been too many meaningful matchups between the Rangers and Islanders lately. But tonight's game between the Blueshirts and the Isles is sure to be listed as another of the all-time heated contests in the so-called Battle of New York.

That's because the two teams enter tonight as the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have one more game to play (eight, to be exact) the rest of the season than the Islanders do, but with the Winnipeg Jets right in the rear-view mirror, it's a "must-win" of epic proportions.

"I'm not sure of the history of it, but we both know what's at stake. We see the standings. We see how much one game can really change things around. So the rivalry's going to be that much more heated," Michael Del Zotto told The Record's Andrew Gross.

Those players who do know about the rivalry between the two teams know what kind of atmosphere they'll face in Long Island tonight. "It's great for the rivalry," Arron Asham told Larry Brooks of The Post. "It's huge for them, their young stars are really playing well, and it's pretty important for us. It should be a lot of fun."

Here's NJ.com's daily aggregation of Rangers news from around the web:

• Members of the Islanders, who will play host tonight, are trying hard not to get caught up in all the talk about the rivalry. "It's going to be a great atmosphere, and I think it'll be great for our fans to have a game like this. But we're staying focused on what we need to accomplish, which is getting to the playoffs and not getting caught up in Rangers-Islanders," Travis Harmonic told Newsday's Arthur Staple.

• The New York Times' Jeff Klein looked back at some of the biggest Rangers-Isles matchups in the history of their franchises when playoff spots were at stake. The last meaningful game? April 3, 2007, when the two teams tied and Wade Dubielewicz led the way to an eventual postseason spot for the Islanders.

• The NHL and NHLPA have partnered with the You Can Play Project, something Henrik Lundqvist approves. "I think it's a good thing. For me, it's not even a question. I think it's important that everybody knows that we respect everybody. Everybody deserves to play this game, it doesn't matter who you are," he told The Daily News' Peter Botte.